Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg said the company has started work on a new airplane design, but it is focused on playing catch-up to deliver products that are years behind schedule.

Ortberg said airlines weren't clamoring for a new design just yet, and Boeing wants to have the technology and its finances in place first. "Certainly, getting our financial house in order is a part of our being ready," Ortberg said. "That's going to take another couple years."

The CEO said the company is spending "time and money" preparing to introduce a new design at the right time, however. "We don't have a firm configuration right now," he said during an interview Sunday ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow outside London. "We're evaluating trade studies. You create a baseline and you evaluate things against the baseline, and then you change."